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How Our Email Feature Solves Your Email Tracking Questions

9/6/2016

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Have you ever looked at your email campaign tracking and wondered why a percentage of your emails were "sent" but not "delivered"? Our member database now features a failed address warning adjacent to undelivered addresses, and enables you to manage and re-add faulty email addresses.
First, there are a few reasons why mail to some email addresses isn't delivered: ​
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1) The member unsubscribed

Every email you send through memberplanet includes an embedded "unsubscribe" link in the footer. This feature is required by the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act, and even if it weren't required, it's a good idea to always respect your recipients' email preferences. And no, you cannot re-subscribe them!
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2) Missing or invalid email address

If a recipient’s email address is not in a valid format (e.g. missing the “@” symbol, contains spaces, etc) or if the recipient does not have a primary email address listed on their account, your email campaign cannot be delivered. Primary email addresses can be added or corrected from the recipient’s page in the Members & Contacts database.
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3) The member's email address bounced

A bounce occurs when a recipient’s email address is unable to accept your email campaign, perhaps because their inbox is too full, as well as a host of other reasons. When this happens memberplanet will disable that email from future sends. While it's not a good idea to continue sending to a bounced email, sometimes the issue can be resolved. We now offer a manual process by which you can give an email address 'another chance'. 
While you can't re-subscribe a member, you now can manually edit and/or restore invalid or bounced emails. When you open a "bounced" member's page on the new membership database you will see a "!" symbol by their email, along with the word "bounced" and a blue link "restore". Restoring the email will remove it from the bounced list so that it will be included once again in future sends. However, if the email bounces again, it will again be disabled and the "bounced" status will reappear in the member's contact page. ​
Get Started Today
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Kick-off your Group: A Beginners Guide to Getting Started

5/16/2016

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So you’re thinking about joining memberplanet? Awesome! We’d love to have you. Or, maybe you've just made an account and have to get started? Welcome! We promise it’s easy to use and you’ll get your group organized on it in no time!

With so many great tools provided by the site it’s easy to think, “Where to start, and how?”

As a recent user of memberplanet, I will be the first to say I was nervous since technology is not my forte. However, the site is created to be user-friendly and has helpful guides that provide you with step-by-step instructions.
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Check out how I got started on my sports team site below! 

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Getting Started on the Platform
After creating an account for my intramural soccer team, the next step was to set up my group. Adding a logo is a great way to brand not only the site but all communications from the group. I was so worried about not having a logo, but  memberplanet had a collection of images for me to choose from. 

Next, I uploaded and invited my group members so they could join in on the fun! memberplanet makes it easy to upload and invite group members through email. You can also track who has received the invite, who has opened it, and who has joined. 
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​Communicating with my Members 
E- newsletters are a great way to immediately get members involved. It also opens a channel of communication on the platform. Another great way to get information out fast is through a Broadcast, which sent out a quick message via email and text to my members. I was able to let everyone know about the location change for our practice that day in less than a minute! 
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Collecting Payments
memberplanet makes it easy to collect funds online. Not only can I collect team payments and uniform money, but memberplanet h
as different payment options. This makes it super easy set up recurring payments or to send a QuickPay through an email! There is even a feature to keep track of any cash or checks collected as well, so all of your amounts are viewable in one place! There is also the ability to create a donation site for ongoing collection of donations for your group! 
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​Tracking Event RSVP's
An event site is a great way to generate buzz about an upcoming group event. The customizable website made it easy for my soccer team to send invites for our BBQ. Also since everything is connected it was easy to track RSVP lists, ticket sales, and social media sharing. Other features like collecting payments and survey forms can also be added. Everything you need to host an incredible event is right at your fingertips through memberplanet
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At first I wasn't ready to complete all of these steps since my soccer team was new. Don’t worry! All of these steps can be updated or completed at any time. The steps are easy to located on the side of the main screen under the ‘Getting Started’ guide. This easy guide will help turn you from a memberplanet newbie to a pro before you know it! It helped me create everything I need to manage and organize my soccer team to be the best team around!
What are you waiting for?! Add your group now! 
Click here to get started


group. members. activities. events. registrations. communication. life. simplified.
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Write an Effective Newsletter in 6 Quick Steps

3/14/2016

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How do you develop a newsletter campaign that won’t land in junk mail?

​Most organizations utilize the email marketing strategy simply because they have been told that it’s good for business. It is good for business, but only if you believe in it and are dedicated to providing your customers with engaging content that they want to receive.

A successful email newsletter campaign requires a shift in thinking. Instead of telling your customers about your latest promotion, use email marketing to engage your community. This means providing valuable content, just not content in volumes. If you’re not sure where to start, walk through the following steps.


​Who you will send your email newsletter to

Who is your target audience? Is it readers who are already customers? Suppliers? Employees? Once you know who you are sending your email newsletters to, you can focus on ways to grow your list. This includes giving away something for joining, promoting on social media or, if time is of the essence, purchasing a list.
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What format will you use

Once you know who you are sending your newsletters to, you’ll want to decide on a template that you can flip copy in and out of with each newsletter. This largely depends on the system you choose as each service has different constraints for your template design. You’ll want to make sure your template is optimized for mobile and reflects your brand’s overall look and feel.
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Create your content calendar

You want to make sure the content you’re sending out is diversified, relevant, and timely. The only way to do this strategically is to map out what you plan to say before you start saying it. Do you have new promotions? Upcoming events? Do you want to highlight an employee or new recipe? Create a content calendar with the frequency and topics of each of your newsletter campaigns at least one or two months out, before you launch, to make sure you’re producing relevant content that tells a story.
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Create an exciting headline and subject line

If your subject line doesn’t grab your reader’s attention, they won’t open it. Include a hook with a benefit. This hook will provide an impact if it answers a question or evokes an emotion. The more personalized and relevant your subject line, the better chance you have for someone to want to read your email. 
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Make it actionable

No matter what your newsletter entails, it should always end with a call to action. Do you want your audience to purchase something, read something, or share on social media? Decide on one call to action per newsletter and make it easy for your readers to follow through with. Include phrases like “Click here to…” and don’t be afraid to mention it more than once within the email. Most readers won’t read the entire email, so don’t save it for last!
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Check before you click

​Just one typo or blurry image can change your reader’s attention and tarnish your credibility. Always test your newsletter to make sure everything works properly and nothing is spelled wrong. This last step can sometimes be the most important.


​You shouldn’t have to be a programmer to build a professional newsletter that you can be proud of. Some of these steps can be eliminated with a single, integrated email service such as memberplanet.

With memberplanet, you can choose a template and color palette and get your message out in minutes. Like what you’ve made? Save it as a custom template and use it over and over again. Want to see if your newsletter was effective? Our live reporting shows you how many people have opened your emails, who clicked on your links and tips on how to better reach your audience. Learn more today on how to get all the tools you need to effectively execute your newsletter campaign. 
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Save time with distribution lists

2/26/2015

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Is this email going to your whole list, or just a few?

Create unique distribution lists for all cross-sections of your group! It’s a fast way to make sure you send to the right people, every time! Find it under Members and Contacts on your main group portal.

Click here for more information

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Important notice for users listing @Yahoo.com or @aol.com emails in the “From” address of your email campaigns!

4/14/2014

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As of April 4, 2014, users listing an @yahoo.com email address for their MemberPlanet “from” address will not be able to send email correspondence of any kind from their MemberPlanet account.

This is the result of a policy change at Yahoo designed to prevent spam coming from Yahoo addresses. This change applies to all 3rd party email service providers, not just MemberPlanet.

On April 23rd AOL made a similar policy change.

These policies applies to all email correspondence, including invitations and auto-responders you currently use on MemberPlanet.

MemberPlanet suggests that you replace your @yahoo or @aol.com addresses in the “from” field to an address that is specific to you or your business ex: [email protected]. Having a unique email will better prevent servers from identifying your emails as spam.

If this isn’t an option at this time, use a different free email provider, such as gmail or hotmail.

Note: this only applies to MemberPlanet users who use a yahoo.com  or AOL.com address in the "from" field of email correspondence (email campaigns, event invitations, donation campaign announcements, etc). This does NOT prevent you from sending mail TO recipients with yahoo.com or AOL.com email addresses.

See yahoo's announcement for more information

Read more about AOL's policy change here
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Schools are using memberplanet all year

2/19/2014

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memberplanet is the perfect tool for managing school communication. In fact, many of our features and upgrades have been developed as custom solutions for our school clients. For example, the entire online packets module (seamless bundles of multiple pre-created forms) was created for one local school district who needed a seamless, paperless, and cost-effective registration process for parents. But MP has more to offer than just seamless registrations, and most of our school clients are active year round on our system via desktop and mobile app.

Here's how schools are using memberplanet year round.


Event Registrations
Whether you are hosting a carnival, a homecoming dance, a PTA dinner, or a school play, memberplanet makes it easy to manage. MP allows you to host a free-standing event webpage, issue email invitations, sell tickets, monitor guest lists and inventory and much more.

Custom Newsletters
Keep parents and faculty in the loop! MP custom newsletters are a professional and cost-effective solution for school-home communication. Manage tracking, post button links, schedule future sends, and save your templates to use over and over.

Group Texts for Alerts and Reminders
memberplanet makes it easy to quickly send a text message to your whole list, or just a segment of your list. Inform parents about last-minute delays and cancellations, or send safety notifications. memberplanet will provide your group with a free local number that your group members can save in their contacts.

Online Forms
Our online forms are simple to create and flexibly accommodate any type of data collection. Even better, they are 100% white label,  export seamlessly to excel, and offer a competitive transaction rate for online payments. Unsure which type of field would most efficiently capture the data you want? Our support team will walk you through the creation process to build the best form for your needs.

Online Donations
Raise money for new technology, library additions, field trips, textbooks and more. We offer competitively priced online donation campaigns so you can raise money for anything.

Database Management
The student and parent roster can sometimes feel like a revolving door, requiring constant maintenance and often out of date. memberplanet makes it easy to collect and sync information, and even allows for parents to submit and update their information independently. Distribution lists allow you to quickly and easily segment your list into unlimited cross sections for targeted communication.

Transferring Leadership Roles
Once your account is up and running, you can seamlessly pass admin responsibilities from one leader to another. Unlike other sites that tie to the primary creator's email address, memberplanet anchors to the group name, allowing you to fully pass administrative to another user, no strings attached. You can also manage administrative access for multiple leaders easily and efficiently.

Collaboration
Most schools have many small groups working within the larger group, like PTA, Boosters, Student Government, etc. The platform allows you to collaborate with these groups by sharing specified data or combining forms for a shared registration packet.

Photo Sharing
Whether you are creating an album from a school dance, an overseas trip, or a recent community project, memberplanet allows you to host and share full pixel quality photos and albums. Even better, email-uploading allows you to seamlessly crowd-source photos from everyone at an event. 

To learn more about any of these school solutions contact a team member at [email protected]

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Do you know who actually opened your email? Learn how to snoop!

12/20/2013

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Do you know how to check who’s opening and reading your emails?  

Email tracking gives you real-time information on who has received the email, who has opened it, and who has clicked on your links within the email. It also shows Bounces (email address didn’t work!) and unsubscribes (recipient says ‘no thank you’ to future emails).

Here's how you can leverage the information:

1) A low open rate could mean a boring subject line.
The solution: Change the subject line to something more catchy and re-send it to the
members who didn't open it the first time! (make sure you wait a few days before doing this)

2) People opened it, but they didn't click on your link!
The solution: Make the link more clear! Was it a text hyperlink? Make it a Button!


3) Emails Bounced
The solution: make sure you have accurate email addresses for the members who bounced. Look for obvious typos ([email protected]). This could also mean the recipient's inbox is full. Try resending the email later, or reach out to them about using a different address. 


4) High rate of Unsubscribes
The solution: Make sure your email is adding value to your recipients. If recipients don't feel they are being served by your correspondence, they will unsubscribe.
Remember, no matter how great your message or offer is, if you don't effectively communicate that value, people will unsubscribe.

Curious about how your last email did? Find all this information and more on the Email Campaign Admin Page!


Create your next email campaign!
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